Mower man rounds up $30m

By Dita De Boni

An affinity with people and a "can do" attitude are all the qualities needed to be a successful franchisee, according to Adrian Kenny.

When meeting this affable entrepreneur, there's no doubting the formula must have some basis in fact - especially when services as personal and potentially problematic as house cleaning, lawn mowing and pet grooming are involved.

Mr Kenny has managed to build a single lawnmowing run owned in 1991 into a nationwide business managing 600 franchisees, servicing around 70,000 clients and generating approximately $30m annually.

The Green Acres Franchise Group, named in honour of both the television series and the acres of green lawns ripe for mowing, can be found anywhere between Invercargill and Northland and is outnumbered only by Lotto for franchises held.

The company has just won the 1999 Westpac Trust Franchise System Surpeme Award, beating perennials Caltex and Stirling Sports for the top prize.

The head of the distinctive green-shirted tribe of self-employed handypeople is both humble and boastful about the runaway success of Green Acres.

The "little Maori boy from Picton" - as he describes himself - was penniless and owing plenty on his credit card when he returned to New Zealand from Europe in 1991.

He was soon mowing lawns to make ends meet and realised he could take things a step further by creating a business venture - placing himself above the other "backyard operators", he says.

"What I would do is build up a round of lawns and then sell it, because in those days it was so easy to build up a client base charging $20 a lawn."

"I also did what the others didn't do at that stage, like clean up edges for free, and always presented myself well.

"It would take up to two weeks to build up a run of clients, and then I got to selling one round every month for around $10,000."

His business was doing so well that it attracted the ire of his bank - who had seen his name in the paper and wondered why his still significant credit card debt was languishing.

"I sent them a cheque for the outstanding amount," he says with a giggle.

The next step was to formally establish the franchising rights to the business and with the help of wife and solicitor (and the discouragement of others calling him "nutty" he says), he set about advertising mowing runs at $19,000 each.

It was time of high unemployment, and 21 people answered the ads for what was then a unique business concept.

Home servicing franchisers now abound; many are sizable Australian imports like V.I.P and Crewcut and some niche operators like Hire a Hubby, although Green Acres remains the market leader by size.

The Green Acres franchise agreement, according to Mr Kenny, was also special for offering a guaranteed turnover, - at that time $800 a week.

"No one has ever had to be paid out [by the company] on the lawnmowing guarantee," he says.

Mowing franchises now go for $16,000 with a guaranteed $600 a week, a figure adjusted because franchisees tend to be aged between 40 and 65, and often "find it hard to physically handle $800 every week," he says.

On top of the cost of the franchise, $100 a week, regardless of takings, is paid to the 60 territory branch owners who in turn pay a fee to head office.

The three-tiered structure of the business is one reason administrative costs are low and profit can be ploughed into training, advertising, and problem-shooting, all of which is done through the territory branch owners leaving the franchisees to just "do the work," says Mr Kenny.

"Many of our franchisees come from corporate backgrounds - often husband and wife teams - and they have left the stress of corporate jobs, been made redundant or retired, and just want as nice secure business."

Another large group of recruits are new immigrants who use loans and government grants to buy franchises.

Although Mr Kenny stresses knowledge of English is a must, he concedes that communication difficulties can arise.

He is also adamant that all new recruits are thoroughly checked out by area managers.

"I'd go nutty with worry if I couldn't trust our franchisees," he says.

"I'd have to say that not everyone succeeds at this business - you've got to have the right attitude. There are a lot of lazy people out there."

He says about five people a year have to give up their franchises, and many more are turned away for various reasons.

But the business grows by around 65 franchisees a year at present, adding more in times of economic depression and slowing down in times of general uncertainty - like before a general election.

Green Acres has added several divisions to lawn mowing since inception in 1991: a car valet service in 1993 (an idea picked up from Australia); home cleaning in 1995 (currently going "berserk"); carpet cleaning in 1996, dog grooming 15 months ago and the most recent foray, home security.

Mr Kenny says the company is definitely looking to add several more divisions to the business over the coming years, hinting at a move away from what he calls "simple" services to even more specialised areas like plumbing.

He says the company will eventually expand overseas - Europe and Australia are spied territories - and while having no plans to float the company has attracted the attention of unnamed big money interests.

"We have had interest and we have big plans, but we feel the time isn't right yet - there's so much more to do in New Zealand; so many more areas to branch out into."

'The beauty of this business for me is that the territory managers do a lot of the hard graft, but the hard part is that your name is always resting the hands of other people."

"I don't feel we've made any huge mistakes by branching out into different areas, but the biggest mistakes we have made have been picking people who were not right - the wrong type of franchisee or even territory owner - that's the real danger in this business."